


Lucky Cat

by Envytastic



Series: Kuroken Week 2017 [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Kuroo likes to burn shit, M/M, minor deaths, sort of character death, youkai AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-02-04 00:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12759636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Envytastic/pseuds/Envytastic
Summary: Day 2 of kuroken week 2017: Rain / Fantasy/Yokai/Shapeshifter (AU)Kenma was living the life. One could say he lived better than most humans on this planet named Earth.





	Lucky Cat

**Author's Note:**

> I very much apologize for the unbeta'dness that this is. I was making pizza with my dad and was too tired (and stuffed) to read through this. I will eventually.
> 
> This was based off of the Maneki Neko article on Yokai.com
> 
> This story may or may not one day continue. I have some vague ideas.

Kenma was living the life. One could say he lived better than most humans on this planet named Earth. He stretched out, mouth opening wide in a yawn. He rolled away, flopping against the side of a beautifully crafted kimono. Immediately a hand found its way on his head. He pushed into it and purred. Yes, life as a cat was good, especially since he won over the heart of one courtesan named Usugomu. She adored him and he adored her. She kept him well fed, safe from the harsh outside and plenty entertained.

Other than that, she didn’t chase away his best friend Kuro. The black cat had first appeared when he was a kitten, starving and hissing at everyone. She had not chased him away but instead fed him. Reluctantly the black kitten had sniffed the food and gobbled it up soon after. Then he was gone. Kenma didn’t mind, he was fine with just Usugomu and him.

Only, it was never Usugomu and him. Every day, she would kiss his forehead, whisper some words to him he never quite understood and then someone would come into the room. She would never pay attention to him and the other humans would often yell at him when he got close. Eventually, he would be locked up in a room and no matter how much he scratched at the door or screamed for her to let him out; she wouldn’t until well in the morning. When the morning came, she would once again pick him up and say words to him that sounded gibberish, but he understood. Every time he forgave her.

It was then that the black cat visited them for the second time. The cat had grown up a little and looked as ruffled as the first time Kenma saw him. He just sat at the windowsill, licking his paw and washing his face. Kenma didn’t even pay him any attention. He would just eat the food and leave like last time. All Kenma had to do was bide his time till Usugomu was done with that human and came to get him. He could take a nap.

Alas things did not go as he expected. He heard a thud and turned around to see the black cat trotting towards him. He simply turned away his head and continued to look at the door, waiting for his human to come back. The cat was sniffing him now. Kenma got annoyed and swatted at the black cat to leave him alone but he wouldn’t. The black cat jumped at him and started wrestling him. Kenma squeaked and started wrestling back. He hated to admit it but it was actually quite fun. Usugomu had tried to get him to get along with other cats before but they had lost interest when Kenma didn’t react to them.

That morning, Usugomu found the two cats snuggled together a pillow, snoozing the day away. The days that followed the cat which Usugomu named Kuro, after his fur, visited every day. Usugomu was ecstatic. She loved cats more than anything, to the point where people talked behind her back about possessions.

One day, Kenma was on Usugomu’s lap, being petted. His eyes were closed and he was content. A sound that didn’t sit well with him made his head snap up and ears turn towards the bathroom. As he did, Usugomu picked him and put him down, saying something. As he had grown older, Kenma started understanding simple things she said. She always said ‘I’m sorry’ whenever he was to be locked up and ‘thank you’ when he was being released. “I have to go the bathroom Kenma.” She had said as she put him down and walked towards the direction he heard the bad sound from. He ran after her and meowed, scratching at her kimono for her to stop going there.

It was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was then that the brothel owner walked into the room, witnessing the cat clawing at Usugomu’s kimono. He hesitated not.

Later that day Kuro decided to visit his best friend with a gift in the form of a dead mouse. He was proud to caught it out of all the other cats that prowled after this itty bitty mouse. He was smarter than them. He started to pick up on human language fast, knew how to get what he wanted from them, who not to approach. When his mother had abandoned him and his siblings, he followed the scent of delicious food and found his way to a house filled with people. He found an open window closest to the good smelling food and jumped in, only to be met by a human and another cat. The cat didn’t seem in mortal peril so he decided to get closer. It was the best meal he had ever had.

When he got older and wiser, he decided to visit the place again in hopes for another free meal. The human was not there, neither was food but the cat from earlier was there. Kuro guessed the cat was not quite an adult yet. He smelled completely of human and no other cat. He had decided to teach this kitten how to ‘cat’. Thus a friendship began. He had learned that the cat was named Kenma and that he was with humans ever since he was born. Not a life Kuro would pick personally. While it was hard, life on the streets was fun. He pranked and swiped yummies from humans. He was the king of this district. Yoshiwara belonged to him. Today he planned to invite Kenma to the outside. The housecat had always denied, terrified of what was outside these walls he called home. That was no life to live.

As he jumped in, he stopped cold. There was the smell of blood. There was another smell he knew. The smell of poison. As he took it all in, he heard weird breathing which he recognized as crying. The human who was always petting Kenma was crying in front of a wooden statue. One that looked exactly like Kenma. It was a statue of a calico cat with its left hand raised up. Kuro dropped the mouse and crept closer to the statue. The statue beckoned him.

“Kuro-chan....” He heard the human say. “Kenma is.... It was an accident. He tried to warn me and saved me even in....” She started sobbing again but he paid her no mind. This statue... it felt just like... he placed his paw on the wood and felt it.

_Kuro_

He jumped back and hissed, his tail puffing out and his back standing up. Usugomu gasped in surprised which caused the owner of the brother to rush into her room. The man reeked of Kenma and death. Everything clicked and Kuro narrowed his eyes. He knew his strengths and could not take on this man. He fled. As he ran, he felt a horrifying pain in his tail. He stopped and yowled, throwing himself on the ground, writing has the burning continued to go down the length of his pain. It stopped and he panted for breath. He tail felt weird. Sitting back he looked to see another black tail accompanying his first tail. He had heard legends about cats getting another tail but those cats lived for centuries before growing another tail, he was only two years old. He stood up and shook himself to gather his thoughts. This was good. He was going to avenge Kenma.

Years passed as he learned. He learned to walk on two legs. He learned human speech, understanding, talking, reading and writing. He found that he could change. He could become bigger, like a panther, but he could also become human. It was time.

People murmured as he walked by them. He was wearing a kimono suited for kings. One thing he did not master was hiding his tail and feline ears so he covered those up with his kimono and _ajirogasa_. He knew he was regarded as attractive as human. It made those fools all the easier to deceive. He arrived at the entrance and was received like royalty. The doorman kept trying to butter him up, bowing profusely.

“My name is Kuroo Tetsurou. I come requesting Usugomu.”

The hosts face fell. “Kuroo-sama, I regret to inform you that Usugomu-sama is with us no longer. She passed away from disease last year, may she have mercy on her soul.”

Kuroo hummed in thought, she was not his objective anyway. “Usugomu had a statue of a cat no? Could you show it to me?”

Again the host had a pained look on his face and was getting jittery. “Owner threw it out when Usugomu-sama passed away.”

Kuro did not look happy. “B-but Kuroo-sama! We have many other courtesans who have even proceeded Usugomu’s popularity. I shall reserve the best one for you.”

Kuro didn’t even reply, turning around and marching away. He discarded his kimono and hat, turning into his original cat form again. Two blue flames sparked alive on the ends of his two tails.

It happened so fast. Screams were heard as people tried to escape the building. The flames spread so fast they didn’t have a chance. The flames licked their ways up, left and right. People succumbed to the smoke suffocating them. From the outside people tried to put out the flames but it was all in vain. The owner of the brother tried desperately to get out but his door wouldn’t budge. A presence was behind him and as he turned around he saw a black cat. And that was the last thing he ever saw.

With his vengeance done, now he set out to find the object of his desires. As a Nekomata he started to understand why he longed for Kenma. He had fallen for that little calico cat. He would do anything in his power, to keep his soul safe and content. He vowed to destroy this whole land, should the statue of Kenma be destroyed. He had felt it the moment he had touched that statue as a stray cat. Kenma’s spirit was in there. Perhaps that’s what spurred his ascend into becoming a Nekomata or perhaps it was his yearning for revenge. He didn’t know and didn’t question it.

Moving was easiest as a cat so he walked the streets of Edo, looking left and right for any sign of Kenma. It was hard, he couldn’t see inside the houses. What if Kenma was moved inside one of those houses? What if he was moved in one of the houses he had looked at, while he tried to visit every house? He growled in frustration, sending some stray cats nearby bolting. He wasn’t going to find Kenma by just standing, so he moved.

\-----

“Kenma!” He gasped and ran to the statue. Finally after years he found him! Although he felt like something was off. He approached the statue as a cat, Kenma would better recognize him as the black cat he first met. “Kenma I found you!” He sighed in relief, smiling as he neared the statue. There was no response. “Kenma?” He asked, sniffing the statue. It did not feel like Kenma at all. The statue smelled new, fresh wood.

He stepped back to get a better look. He was looking approximately fifteen years now. A wooden statue would not look this fresh after fifteen years. He hissed in frustration. They had made duplicates! He soon found a cat statue in front of every store. He was running around so much, he didn’t realize it had turned night and that it was raining, till he felt his paws give away under him and cold take him over.

It was all futile. How could he find such a small statue in this whole country? Maybe he could find Kenma in the afterlife. Was life worth living without his beloved with him? He closed his eyes.

_Kuro_

There, Kenma was beckoning him into the afterlife.

_Kuro_

Why was he still breathing? Wasn’t he dying?

_Over here_

Couldn’t Kenma see he was trying to die?

_Get up you idiot_

His eyes shot open as he scrambled to his feet. “Kenma?!” He called out. It was as if a path lit up to lead him to Kenma. He jumped over a fence and found himself in front of a small antique shop. “Kenma!” The black cat screeched to a halt as he saw the state of disrepair the statue was in.

“What have they done to you?” He whispered, touching a paw to the wood. It was waterlogged and smelled of rot. Moss was starting to grow on the outside. He did not hear what Kenma said next. He transformed into his human form and marched into the shop.

“ _Dear customer we a-AAAAAH_ ” The woman behind the counter screamed as she saw the cat demon. He was buck-naked with two black tails thrashing behind him, black triangular ears, easily blending with the mess that was his hair.

The scream of the woman made the man appear from the back. “What do you think you’re doing?! Get out you pervert!” He ripped a katana off the wall and took a battle stance. Kuro could smell the fear off of him.

“Hand over that statue.” He growled. Both humans flinched but the man persisted.

“No! Go away before I call for the constables!”

“Give it to me!” Kuro’s voice was booming. The girl screamed and dropped behind the counter, covering her head.

“Father I think we should-”

She was cut off by her father. “That statue has made us richer than ever! Since I bought that we have had customers every day! I will never give it up!”

A grin crept up Kuro’s face slowly. The man was trembling in fear as he saw the nude man change. His golden eyes became slit and his grin kept getting wide and wider, teeth pointy. The ends of the two tails sparked till they lit up in blue flames. “Wrong answer.”

He felt almost bad for having burned that girl. Almost. He sauntered outside and simply picked it up, carrying it to his home. As he got inside, he wiped away the moss and grime, trying to dry it to the best of his ability. He would have to place Kenma in the sun for him to dry up completely. Kenma hated being wet but loved the sun. As he was pleased with the clean-up, he touched his forehead to that of the statue.

“Is setting things on fire your answer to everything?”

Kuro startled when he heard the voice. It wasn’t in his head as usual. Before him sat a human, his body thin, pale and cold. On his head he had neck length blond hair with black roots, two white ears were perched atop his head, turning this way and that way. A white tail with black spots was attached just above his buttocks, swishing around.

“Kenma?” Kuro asked in disbelieve.

The boy pouted. “What?” He asked, covering his body with his arms and shying away.

Kuro smiled, the most serene smile he had ever had. “You must be cold.” He picked up the maneki neko, which earned him a squeak and pink blush on the pale cheeks. He carried over and placed the former calico cat on the futon and looked at him. “May I?”

Kenma didn’t hesitate to nod. Kuro joined him on the futon and the two gravitated to each other as if not touching the other would kill them. Legs tangled, arms encircled and tails twirled. For the first time in years, both cats felt at peace.


End file.
